Anne Duggan

Cecilia Anne Duggan (nee Holdom) who goes by Anne..

Born 10th January 1938 in Wallsend Hospital.

She was one of 11 children! 7 girls & 4 boys

Anne told me her mother was involved in a motorbike accident where she was in the sidecar. She was pregnant at the time & lost the baby. (it was her 3rd baby) The Doctors told her she would have no more children after that. So she had 9 more, just to prove him wrong.

Her father had a bad heart & did quite young at 56.

She recalls her mother telling them to get outside & play from early on in the morning. They would return for mealtimes, but then were quickly ushered back outside no matter the weather.

They had double beds throughout the house which they shared for sleep. She said they were so happy & didn't even realise how poor they were.

Anne attended Cardiff high school, then Merewether. She finished up at 14 years 10 months to work in a milk bar.

Then she worked in a gift shop near the hospital at Wallsend.

At 19 she became engaged to William, she was married at 20 & had her first baby at 21.

She had 2 children, a son & daughter.

Anne worked from home making baby clothes, then she would walk the streets door knocking & selling her clothing.

In the end she took orders as her designs were quite popular. I asked where she learnt to sew. She said her mother had given her the old machine she used, but she had no idea how to use it.

When her eldest baby as 11 months she had no clothing as times were tough. So her mother came around, threw a pattern & some fabric at her, & said cut this out & I will be back in an hour to show you how to make it.. she showed her once, & the rest is history.

Anne opened a fashion shop in Charlestown which she ran for 15 years.

She sold the business but soon got bored at home & started applying for jobs. She refused to fill in Rockmans paperwork, insisting they either hire her off her word or she would walk away.. they were set on the form being filled out, so she left..

She then went to Cue fashion, & offered to do a days work free to show what she could do.

As she approached the store she saw a lady leaving with other shops bags but not Cue. She approached her & said, excuse me madam, but you just left this store without a Cue purchase.. please come in & let me show you around.. She waltzed in & told the sales assistant to get her everything in a size 12. She proudly told me she sold that customer $800 worth of clothing.. an amount she said was huge for that day & age.

She stayed on for a time at Cue before working in another shop called Petronella, where she managed the stores, she was 60 when she left.

Anne & William bought an old church in Hinton & renovated it into a house. When they sold that they moved into a retirement home at Bonnells bay.

Sadly William was diagnosed with dementia in 2014 & he had to be moved into a care facility across the road. He has been there just under 3 years.

Anne sees him either daily or every second day. She said he still remembers her, & is obsessed with her, but doesn't socialise with others much. She misses being able to be with him all the time, but she said she knows it's the safest place for him to be.

Anne has 6 Grandchildren, & 12 Great Grandchildren. She loves going out on day trips. Catching the train, & still she still drives.

Bev

Bev is 82.

Bev is the eldest of 3, with two younger brothers. Born in Beaudesert Qld.

As a 15 year old Bev said she caught a train to Kurri Kurri walked into the hospital, & asked for a job..

As a training nurse she was expected to live at the nurse quarters. They were all locked in at 10pm each night, & the rules were quite strict.

It so happened that Bev met her future husband Jim while working there, which meant she had to leave once they married. When they chose to marry, nurses were no longer allowed to live at the nurse quarters or continue training, as they were required to be single women.

Bev & Jim moved to Lake Macquarie & started their family. Together they trained & registered as Psychiatric nurses at Morisset Hospital.

Bev worked in the female wards, which later became mixed wards. Jim spent quite a lot of his time on rotating shifts, including time spent in the infamous Ward 21. Which had some of the most violent criminals in our state. The nursing staff carried no weapons or had any way of protecting themselves against an attack.

The work was hard & demanding, but they both made the most of their time whilst working there.

Unfortunately, Jim has since passed. Bev still wears his wedding ring on a chain around her neck.

Bev now spends her days socializing with her former work colleagues, talking about days gone by. She also loves to garden, & do knitting for charity.

Bev is blessed with 4 Children, 8 Grandchildren, & 1 great grandchild.

Bev said that the last 10 born were all boys.. & then 55 years from her last daughter, came her one & only great granddaughter.

Jim had always said he wanted his own soccer team, & they almost got it!

Betty Secomb

Betty is 100 years old!!

She was born 23rd May 1923 at Arnliffe Rochedale

Betty was registered as Jessie Elizabeth. Named after her grandmother who died a month prior to her birth.

Her family called her Betty, because that is what her Mother had wanted to call her originally.

Betty grew up around Gladesville, her Father was a returned soldier from world war 1. He became a labourer during the depression.

It was hard times for the family raising 6 children. Betty suffered a lot with her skin when she was a child, & had severe dermatitis. She missed a lot of school due to this condition, although she still always got good grades at school.

Betty loved animals & used to bring home all the strays. She loved caring for them, & shared her food with them.

As betty grew up, her Uncle would pick up some of the older siblings & take them to Sunday school.

This was the highlight of her week as she loved singing the hymns.

Later she attended Presbyterian church & longed for her own bible for her 16th birthday. Her Uncle bought her one as a gift.

Betty worked in a wool mill in Sydney, she would catch the train early each day. She was a small skinny girl, & had to shake the big heavy wool out onto the old wooden benches.. it was hard, physical work.

Betty had some friends that arranged a night out when she was 18, & it ended in a blind date with Gordon Secomb. They got along well & had a great night at the movies. Gordon was a soldier in ww11.

Betty & Gordon were married 11th August 1940. Betty was 20 years old.

It wasn't until after the war, that they had two of their children Max & Robyn. They lived in Kempsey on a dairy farm at Willawarren They loved living there, with Gordon's family close by.

The family loved to put on spreads of sponge cakes, slices & other homemade delights.

The boys would come back from milking at around 6am & have a big, cooked breakfast & cakes afterwards. betty was at her happiest living here.

Unfortunately Gordon had to find work elsewhere as the farm started to struggle.

Gordon, Betty & baby Max moved to the Central Coast where Gordon worked for Seargent Buses.

Betty then had daughter Robyn & they were living in a old cabin., but Betty was not coping & she had bad nerves. The doctor said for the sake of her health they needed to move.

They bought a house in Long Jetty where they stayed on for another 40 years. During that time they had another daughter, Joy.

When Gordon became unwell, Betty had to get her drivers licence. She was 75! She drove until she was 85 but then got macular degeneration. At that point she moved to Gorokan to be closer to her daughter.

Betty lived a life devoted to Jesus. Before she did anything she would get on her knees & pray, believing everything would be fine.

Betty attributes getting through the hardest times of her life to her faith.

Betty has one sibling remaining from her family. She turns 92 next week! Betty the eldest, & Valery the youngest child.

Betty has 12 Grandchildren, & 15 Great grandchildren.

Beryl Lott

I have two stories to share today.. the first Golden age portrait is of beautiful Beryl. She was kindly transported & assisted by the lovely carers (special thanks to Cassandra) from Fronditha Care.

She was a little hesitant to participate in my project, but I am so glad she ended up trusting me to tell her story & capture her. Beryl told us during the shoot that most of her photos & memories were destroyed many years ago during the floods in Maitland, which is just so sad.

Beryl was born on the 8th December 1926 in Casino N.S.W to Edward and Martha Ann Tapper. Beryl was the youngest of six children and had a wonderful childhood growing up in Wallangarra. Her fondest memory of this time was a personal wave from the Duke and Duchess of York in 1934 (Queen Elizabeth’s Grand Mother). Beryl was sitting on a post in the paddock with her father wearing her grubbiest overalls when a train went past with the Duke and Duchess standing on the platform at the back of the train, when the duchess spotted Beryl she gave her a wave.

Beryl moved to Maitland when she was 13 and attended High School at Maitland Girls High School.

At age 21 Beryl moved to Sydney to live with her brother and move away from Maitland to experience something different. She worked at Sterling Henrys in Flemington which was a manufacture business for materials.

Beryl met Allan Lott in 1950. At first Beryl thought was that he was the stupidest person she had ever met, as he would always wear an army overcoat and have chocolates in his pockets. They shared the same friend group and always got around as a group going to the beaches and hanging out.

Beryl was going to go on a holiday one day when Allan decided to ask her out to dinner, they went out to dinner and decided to become a couple and love bloomed from there.

Beryl and Allan married on the 2nd September 1952 at a registry office in Alburn. Beryl’s fondest memories of the day was her best friend, also named Beryl) Beryl's husband, and baby riding around in the front of the wedding car. When they would stop they would both pop out of the front seat and get funny looks.

Beryl and Allan went on to have four children Mark, Jennifer, Dianne and Grahame. (Dianne passed away at Three weeks old during the Golden Staph epidemic).

Allan passed away in 1962 after Beryl and Allan had been married for 10 years. Allan had had a car accident and had gone to gate keepers at the train station to report it. On this day the sun was hitting the rails blinding vision and they had turned the engines of on the train and it coasted in. Allan did not hear or see the train and got hit by it.

Beryl never remarried and went on to raise the children alone. She said she was very lucky to have friends to help her.

When Beryl retired from work she continued to work hard volunteering her time with the Arthritis association for Twenty years right up until six years ago . Beryl started volunteering at branch level, and worked her way up to become chairperson of the board. After stepping down as chairperson Beryl continued to volunteer once a week with sending out letters and cards. Beryl earned a “Golden Hip Award” and was the first person ever to receive this.

Beryl’s worst memory was being accused by her boss of being a part of the communist party. She had dinner at a Greek Restaurant the night previous and still remembers the Lamb and Risoni. The Greek restaurant was on the bottom floor of a building and the Communist party headquarters was on the top floor. The next day Beryl went in to work and her boss said to her “You were seen going to the communist party building yesterday” Beryl tried to explain that she had only been near the building as she was going to the restaurant, but her boss would not listen. Beryl had had had enough of this so told her boss to “Stick his job” but not quite those words!

Beryl is a grandmother to nine and a great grandmother to eight. She now resides in an aged care facility where is well loved by staff and other residents alike and spends her days reading books attending Trivia and running the residents shop.

Betty & Max

Betty & Max..

They have been married for 66 years.

Betty married Max when she was 17 & he was 20.. Her parents wouldn't give them permission to marry due to her age.. so they lied & told them she was pregnant so they would have to let them marry.. haha

They had to come clean when Betty didn't have a baby months later.. but they went on to have their first child 2 years later..

They raised 5 children together, & Betty proudly told me, that she has 22 grand children & 23 great grand children.

They originally got married in a registry office, so I went & picked Betty some flowers from my garden, & created some new portraits for them in the Fable Creative Studio & around the farm.

The love they have for each other is quite remarkable, especially after 66 years. They are soul mates.. & possess the kind of love that withstands time.

Andrew Murray

Andrew Murray was born in 1941 in Edinburgh Scotland.

He was one of 6 siblings, he was the youngest.

As a child he could walk to Edinburgh castle, & remembered that one day he & a friend climbed the fence & managed to make their way into the castle.

They were caught & had a stern talking to. They were also made to sign a document to say they would never break in again.

Drew was 5 when they first came over to Australia, he lived in Campsie in Sydney. The family travelled back & forth three times between Australia & Scotland, before settling here permanently.

Drew had a great love for Soccer & played for 40 years. He played a few games professionally. He recalled a memorable game at Henson Park, which was actually a football ground, but they were permitted to have their game of soccer there.

Drew finished school at 14 & at 16 joined the Merchant Navy. They travelled around Australia, & also to South America. But it was too dangerous for them to depart the boat there.

He had met a wonderful lady named Joy at a dance at Marrickville town hall. He married her at age 20.

After leaving the Navy he drove trucks, & buses. He also worked for the railway in Darling Harbour.

Drew took Joy on a voyage to Scotland as she had never seen snow. They were staying with his brother when in the morning he told Drew to wake Joy & tell her to come outside. Joy got to see the snow falling & landing on them. It was at a location called Arthurs Seat. Drew looked so happy while retelling this story to me, & remembering Joy's amazement & excitement.

Joy & Drew had two sons. They lived in Mt Pritchard when the kids were young.

They moved to Stroud after some years, & Joy was a seamstress & made curtains for local businesses & households.

Joy also worked as an organizer for Stroud show, & Drew helped her with those duties. Joy sadly passed away in 2012.

Drew developed lung cancer, & had to spend 3 months in the mater hospital. He has radiation scarring on the top half of his lung, which makes it now fairly ineffective.

In 2020 Drew had some health issues, & upon investigation they found that his appendix had burst.

Drew was diagnosed with dementia in recent years & the decision was made for him to sell up at Stroud & move to his son & daughter in laws farm in the Hunter Valley.

He did so well to recall all of his past memories. it's just his day to day that he has trouble with.

I made comment to Drew that I was surprised he didn't have an accent. He recalled getting teased for it at school by a boy who was in a higher grade & much bigger than him. He said they got into a fist fight, & after scrapping with each other for some time the fight ended, & they became great mates.. Drew did however work very hard to disguise / lose his accent to avoid any more issues.

Barbara Robinson

Barbara Robinson born 26th April 1934 in Gateshead near Newcastle in England to parents John Alexander Robinson and Sylvia Hannah Armstrong who married in 1924. Barbara the youngest of three daughters, eldest Sylvia born 1925 and Jean in 1927. Barbara recalled walking miles to school in the snow. She said it was so deep her Mum had to sew sheepskin onto the top of her boots to stop them filling up.

She attended Rockingham Road school for girls before relocating to Australia in 1948. She and her family sailed out on SS Asturias settling into their family home at Lakemba NSW.

Barbara enrolled at Bankstown Girls school to complete her leaving certificate before embarking on her working career starting out as children’s dressmaker. Deciding she did not like making handmade buttonholes she decided to try out hairdressing. After 2 years of hairdressing she took on work along Castlereagh St and Elizabeth St in the city of Sydney.

Whilst working in the drycleaning business she met Joseph John Humphreys whom she married at Saint Andrews Church in Lakemba NSW in 1954. Barbara recalled that she has no pictures from her wedding as the photographer didn't show up as arranged!

In 1960 she welcomed their first child together a daughter named Donna, soon followed a son named John Alexander in 1961 as he was the spitting image of his grandfather who sadly passed that same year. A few years passed before welcoming their second daughter and final family member Tina in 1967. She continued to work fulltime leaving the drycleaning business after sixteen years.

Barbara started her own house cleaning business often taking Tina with her on jobs whilst Donna and John attended school. During this time her marriage broke down and with her two daughters in tote moving for a short time to Panania before then moving to the Central Coast NSW.

In 1980 Barbara married Ronald Lloyd Howes where they opened a fish and chip shop at Toukley called “Howes your Fish and Chips”. Wanting to live the simple life she moved to the rural town of Glenreagh in 1992.

Barbara has always been a whizz with a needle and thread where till this day she continues to make clothing and alterations including wedding and christening dresses, her creative soul has created many beautiful artworks using several different mediums including pottery and porcelain, pencils and pastels and fabrics. With a lot of hard work and determination she recreated Donna, Tina and daughter in law Gennine’s wedding dresses into porcelain figurines.

Whilst travelling on a train to Sydney she was seated next a man named Bob Franks, spending hours of talking the always romantic Barbara married her third husband Bob. They moved to her current home in South Grafton NSW.

Barbara has three grandchildren Larissa, Kelly and Lee all who have blessed her with great grandchildren, Ruby, Aurora, Lacey, Thea, Evie and Noah. She spends many hours sitting and watching, conversing, and laughing and being loved by her whole family.

Beryl Connell

Beryl was my very first Golden Age session! I asked her family to bring along any special items of Beryl's, which were some of the tapestries she had made, a statue she had in her garden, one of her plants & her Wedding photo.

Her face lit up when they wheeled her in, & she saw her Wedding photo on the table.. Dementia may make some of her memories fade, but I could see in her eyes how much that image meant to her.

These were some of the words her family documented about her life.

Beryl Joan Connell born 6/2/1927 née Vesperman

One of 8 children, the eldest girl, grew up in Cootamundra where her father was a baker, and mother a housewife. Beryl raised the younger twin Girls, leaving school at 13 years old, to help her busy mother.

During the years of the depression neighbours helped one another out. This is when Beryl first met Les Connell. ( he would later become her husband) His mum was a good sewer and use to make clothes for her mum. They grew up in a small country town having fun with neighbours and family.

Beryl's first job was at Coles , in the Lolly department . (apparently at the care facility, she won't always eat her dinner, but will still polish off a packet of lollies)

Eventually became a receptionist for local doctor and also nanny for their children.

Les returned from WWII after being held as a prisoner of war, and romanced Beryl into marriage.

They started their married life In Paddington Sydney then returned to Cootamundra to rear their 4 children . David, Cherylene, Wendy, and Paul.

Beryl remained a housewife throughout and volunteered at various school canteens. Moving to Newcastle in 1965, where Les managed the rail transport of coal into the harbour.

Her main goal in life was to see her children well educated and to run her home lovingly.

She excelled at embroidery, knitting crocheting and tapestry. Always demonstrating a flair for decorating, colour coordinating .. especially in her home .

Joined the Probus club and remained an active member until moving to Rutherford.

Beryl is known for her love of her family and celebrating every milestone- always a party !

She now has 9 Grandchildren, & 18 Great Grandchildren.

Barbara Solman

Barbara Clare Solman Nee Bell Born on the 9th May 1934 in A Private Nurses Home by Nurse Whiteman Mayfield.

Barbara is the 4th of 6 Children (her mother had been one of 10) and the one who was to help hold the Family together. Sadly, her father passed away at the young age of 36 From Silicosis Disease. He fired the bulbs at New Bulb Brick, this fatal illness was an occupational lung disease caused by inhalation of crystalline silica dust. Her mother worked hard to provide for the family in his absence.

Home life was always full of fun, laughs, lots of noise and cheekiness. Barbara said they were always surrounded by family once her Dad passed away as the Aunties regularly dropped in to check in on us all and there was always something to be done around the house.

Her mum would always be in the middle of the noise and laughter, if there was a bit of banter between us kids.. Mum would be in there Dishing out as good as she got. If there was a Classic water fight in the yard.. yep Mum would be in there to making as much mess as all of us kids. We never had a Lot BUT we made the most of what we had.

Growing up in Mayfield everyone knew each other, family all around and the Neighbours always looked out for each other and all the Children in the area. Barb was always a chatty child and if her Mother wasn’t able to find her at the end of the day. All she had to do was go check with the Neighbours as Barb would surely be chatting to one of them

Barb got an exemption from School to leave early so she could gain employment to help the family with money to get by. Her first Job was at the Dry Cleaners in Mayfield. She loved it very much and her first Pay check she bought herself a pair of shorts much to her Mothers disapproval . We always wore dresses or slacks. Never Shorts.. I remember getting ready to go out with my new outfit. I walked out to say Goodbye to Mum and she threw a bucket of water over me and said… Oh Dear, You will have to get changed now!

She then gained employment at a nice boutique at the top of town. where she loved the fashion and as always having hand me down clothes or clothes sewed by her Mum. It was a lovely and exciting Job.. The skills she had learnt from family had also helped her fall in love with making her own accessories and hats and clothing as well.

When Barb was 15 She Met A Bloke Called Allan through a mutual friend who Fancied her, but the feelings weren’t mutual. Window shopping through the streets of Mayfield one day Allan asked to take her to the movies.. and the rest is history. They dated for 4 years with picnics with the local Motorcycle club with games of Egg and Spoon on the Bikes. Local Dances where the question was regularly asked… So who has caught your heart. To finally getting married on the 5th December in1953. The same year the Queen was coronated

They together had 3 children Allan Jnr, Phillip and Jane who are still the apples of her eye. Her Job as a Stay-at-Home Mother is all she could have wished for and has loved watching their own lives grow and families become bigger and stronger.. and they were cheeky kids so that was a full time job in itself.

Barbara told me that she had quite a traumatic birth delivering her first son Alan, due to the birthing Doctor not listening to Barbara & her explaining she had been told the baby needed to be turned, she ended up having a c-section completely unconscious. She said the midwife had to ring & beg the Doctor to attend, he was known to have an alcohol problem... so he was really not fit to be working.

Alan ended up needing an operation on his head to remove a blood clot due to the trauma as well.

It took her another 8 years to fall pregnant with son Phillip, due to the issues from her first birth. He was 10lb & she ended up having a prolapse, cervical repair, & a hysterectomy.

Their third child Jane was adopted, due to Barbara no longer being able to have children. She was adopted at 23 days old from Crown Street Women's Hospital in Sydney.

Her daughter Jane did try to find her birth mother when laws changed, & contact could be made, but sadly she was in hospital, quite unwell by the time the letter reached her, & passed away just a day after receiving it. Thankfully a friend, could fill in some of the details & let Jane feel she knew a little about her birth mother.

When her Mum became unwell, Barb and Al lived in Belmont and her Mother was Still in Mayfield. She tells stories of when she would ride over on Allans Triumph Bike, Barbara in the Side Car along with Newborn Baby Allan Jnr. They would pack all the fresh vegetables from her Mums vege patch into the Side Car. Then the sleeping Allan Jnr then Barb into the Side car.. Then they would ride back to Belmont home.. Also Barb and Allan Snr were the first in their street to get a phone put into the house, as her Mums health was not the best and they needed that extra bit of communication as Belmont was a fair drive from Mayfield back then..

She still has trouble with her Mobile Phone and oh the funny stories the Grandkids can tell of Allan Snr with his Mobile phone

Barb now has 6 Grandchildren and 3 Great Grandchildren who drop in from time to time. Check in on her, keep her busy and always love her snacks and having a cuppa with her, life is less busy these days and the visits she has definitely make her day.

Her family is her life and since the passing of her beloved Husband June 2020 it has left a large hole in it. She keeps busy with her love of books, Her knitting of her famous coat hangers and loves meeting up with her new coffee ladies. She says she is grateful for all that we have and that time is a gift.